August 2025
The evening felt splendid at the Grand Sierra Resort as alt rock band 311 brought their “Unity Tour” through Reno, and the feeling in the room is that the fans were ready for it. The band had recently celebrated turning 35 years old, how amazing is that?!!
The crowd went wild when 311 took the stage. The Omaha, Nebraska band ran through their more than three decade span of hits both new and old. Lead singer Nick Hexum shared with the crowd this tour was to celebrate 35 years as a band. The band, at its core, is for positivity. They emphasized crowd inclusion be speaking to the crowd between songs and of course encouraging fans to sing back with them. The group kept the show flowing with their positive and amazing musicianship, led by lead guitarist Tim Mahoney who puts on a visual performance while playing. Mahoney knows where to be heavy and when to be melodic. The band’s DJ, Doug “SA” Martinez acts as the second vocalist but is quite impressive on stage and had attendees singing back his lyrics. Bassist Aaron “P-Nut” Wills had a fantastic solo moment while the band took a brief break and left the stage. Later the band’s drummer Chad Sexton gave a skillful lengthy drum solo during which the techs drug out more drums and the entire band joined and played drum solos in unison. The band even tossed their sticks in air and another one catches it, super awesome to see in person.
Clothes came off. Will, the group’s bass player, ended up in a sleeveless tank. Hexum had his shirt off by the end, which pleased the ladies as he’s noticeably chisled. The stage light show was outstanding, contributing to the over the top atmosphere People didn’t want it to end. For their encore, 311 played two more songs that left people still singing while walking to their cars in the parking lot. Reno enjoyed the summer night.
The night was kicked off by Southern California group Sitting on Saturn bringing great energy and excitement to get the concert started. They featured Tom Woodrum, guitar tech for 311’s Tim Mahoney, sitting in for a song on guitar. Next up was Badflower from Los Angeles and they played a musically strong set. Lead singer Josh Katz joked about getting mad at himself backstage prior and intended to smash his guitar but said the crowd was so nice he couldn’t follow through on that. However he vowed “if they aren’t nice in the next city I’m smashing it.” They even stopped mid set and signed a couple albums for fans who couldn’t resist asking. Both bands were awesome to set the night off.
